My Top 15 Favorite Hit Songs of 2016: Part 2 (10-1)

 

10. Low Life - Future, The Weeknd 

I listened to Future's album EVOL a while back in an album trade with my friend Kalameet and I really liked it.  And I loved this song even before that. This song feels kinda hypnotic with how the beat and artist's voices sound together. The production here is just stunning. Both artists sound incredible. And they manage to make the song never feel boring at all despite being downbeat and over 5 minutes. I don't have much more to say really. 

9. Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande

To be honest, in my opinion, even if I do like her, recently Ariana has been underwhelming me. She has so much potential and such a beautiful voice, and yet she hasn't been using it enough lately. I've heard Yes And? and it's incredibly disappointing. And there's the really bad Die For You remix. Sure there have been moments of greatness like Pov, Positions and Bad Idea, but overall her catalogue from the last few years has not won me over all that much. But back in 2016 she was living up to her potential a lot more consistently. And this is an example of that. This song feels huge with the killer guitar line, Ari using her higher range which I miss, catchy as fuck hook. And then an awesome guitar solo. This song still rules several years later. 

8. Black Beatles - Rae Sremmurd 

First of all, no Rae Sremmurd are not the black version of the Beatles, and I do not believe they are seriously saying that, so you shouldn't take that seriously either boomers who got mad at this song for that reason. Anyway, this song is just such a vibe. That beat just fucking slaps so hard, so beautiful but also keeping a driving rhythm. And Swae Lee just sounds so beautiful in the hook. And all three have fantastic flows in their verses. Fantastic song. 

7. Perfect - One Direction

Frankly I never heard the comparisons of this song to Style by Taylor Swift all that much. I mean I guess the instrumental is a bit similar but everything else is different. And it's just a fantastic song that was a great final hit for 1D. All the members sound incredible, the production is beautiful, and the harmonies are excellent. While I never had a 1D phase growing up, looking back at their hits (and hearing two of their albums because of my friend Shake) the last few years they are honestly a pretty good band. And they made Story Of My Life which is honestly an all time favorite song of mine now. And this song still rules. 

6. Into You - Ariana Grande

This is one of my favorite Ariana Grande songs. I know that's a basic ass opinion in this community, but like, this song is so good. Another example of Ariana actually using her huge vocal range to great effect. She sounds so beautiful, and the production is also great. The fucking buildups from the verses to the chorus are so fucking awesome. And the chorus is just massive. This was the massive sounding pop song we needed in 2016. And it still holds up so well. 

5. Starboy - The Weeknd, Daft Punk

This is just such an iconic song, and for good reason. The Weeknd criticizing the mainstream for making someone like him a star, and sounding empty inside showing how the fame is not making him happy. But doing it with a fucking killer groove and awesome robotic vocals from Daft Punk. This song will likely go down as one of the classics of late 2010's pop music and for good reason. Killer song. 

4. Stressed Out - Twenty One Pilots

Blurryface by Twenty One Pilots has aged really weirdly, and I say this as someone who had a Twenty One Pilots phase back in 2018-19. Some of the songs on it have aged well like The Judge and Tear In My Heart . But others have aged like shit and are just fucking awful in hindsight like Fairly Local and Lane Boy. This is thankfully one of the ones that has aged really well and is just as good as it was back in 2016. In fact the lyrics resonate more with me now than they did then for obvious reasons. While there are things I do enjoy about adult life, adult life is so fucking stressful, and I miss the days when life was so much calmer. The line "We used to play pretend, give each other different names, we would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away. Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face saying Wake up you need to make money" just hits.  But also like, the production on this one fucking rules, espicially during the chorus. That piano line is so beautiful. That chorus melody is just timeless. 

3. In The Night - The Weeknd

I haven't listened to Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd in a few years but from what I remember this is one of the best songs on it. A phenomenal dark pop song about him falling in love with a woman who was sexually abused growing up and because of that is scared of love and dances for money. And as she does so it triggers memories of the abuse she went through. It's just such a haunting song, but also with a hell of a hook and absolutely killer production. I'm still a bit surprised this was as big as it was, but I'm so glad it was. 

2. I Took A Pill In Ibiza (Seeb Remix) - Mike Posner

This is just a beautiful heartbreaking song. Mike Posner talking about how he struggled to follow up the success of Cooler Than Me in 2010, and ever since he just feels like he'll never reach those heights again, and he's just a washed up nobody who made one hit song people forgot. He got a little taste of fame, only to not be able to keep it. And end up worse off because of that. And because of that he's taking pills to try and look cool to Avicii (rest in peace). And seeing this become even bigger than Cooler Than Me was just so fucking cool. It's also just such a fantastic tropical house song. The production is so beautiful and Mike sounds incredible. So what beat this song? Well before we find out, some Honorable Mentions:

HM. Tiimmy Turner - Desiigner 

Panda is also pretty good for the record. But this is the better song. That production is fucking immaculate. 

HM. Middle - DJ Snake, Bipolar Sunshine

Drop of the year. 

HM. Side To Side - Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj

I don't like praising Nicki Minaj right now, given the shit happening right now, but like her verse on this is fantastic. And Ari does good too. 

HM. White Iverson - Post Malone

I still don't get why this song was called racist beyond just being a rap song by a white artist. And it is just a vibe. Has Posty made better music since? Yes, but like I still like this one quite a bit. This has a instrumental you can swim in, which is a compliment. 

HM. Die A Happy Man - Thomas Rhett 

This one's cute. I like it.

HM. Let Me Love You - DJ Snake, Justin Bieber

I used to hate this one, but hearing it on the radio on a nighttime drive recently caused it to click. Those synths slap so hard. 

HM. Broccoli - DRAM, Lil Yachty

Fun song. 

HM. Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - Adele

I like this song more than When We Were Young and I will stand by that. Some dismiss this for being one of Adele's most upbeat songs, but like that's exactly why I like it. After hearing so much sad music from her, it's nice hearing her happy for once. 

HM. Heathens - Twenty One Pilots 

The best hit from the Suicide Soundtrack. The menacing atmosphere of this song works so well. And the autotune on Tyler Joseph's voice is so good. 

HM. Work From Home - Fifth Harmony, Ty Dolla $ign

I've always liked this song. That beat just slaps so hard and I like how most of the girls sound. 

HM. My House - Flo Rida

He doesn't miss. 

HM. Can't Stop The Feeling - Justin Timberlake

I get why some people don't like this one, it is a bit plastic and JT has better music but like, I can't resist that groove. 

HM. Don't Let Me Down - The Chainsmokers, Daya

I think I like this one more in a rational way than Closer, but Closer has more nostalgia which is why it made the list. 

HM. One Dance - Drake, Wizkid, Kyla

One of my favorite Drake hits to be honest. That hook is not only iconic but so infectious, and the groove goes hard. 

And finally...

1. 

Okay so, it was hard to pick my #1 favorite hit of this year. I Took A Pill In Ibiza is one of the most devastating hits of the decade, In The Night is one of the best songs I've heard from The Weeknd, and  Stressed Out is a middle school classic of mine that I still adore so much. I didn't really think this next song would top this list before I started working on these lists. I'd always adored it, but like, it wasn't (and still isn't) even my favorite song by this artist, and I hadn't realized how much this song would resonate when I relistened to it for ordering these lists...

1. Ride - Twenty One Pilots

I may not have thought this back in 2018-19 back when I had my TOP phase, but looking back now this is easily my favorite song on Blurryface. In fact, the fact that a song this good is on the same album as songs as bad as Fairly Local and Lane Boy is crazy. Firstly, the instrumental track is phenomenal, the static sound effect in the background works better than it should, the reggae inspired drums are hypnotic, and the piano is beautiful. And Tyler Joseph's performance is incredible. He sounds absolutely beautiful and also sells the lyrics so well. Speaking of which, the lyrics are why this topped the list. This is a song about how Tyler is so caught up with thinking about death and how we only have so much time in this world, that he isn't actually spending that time having the best life he can, and so he tries to put those thoughts out of his head and just focus on living the best life he can. But as he says in the bridge, while he tries to do so, those thoughts do keep coming up. "I've been thinking too much, help me". To be honest, I relate to that a lot. I'm someone who gets way too lost in my own thoughts all the time, and often worries about how I will die someday, and my thoughts take over and often interfere with me actually spending my time living the best life I can. So this song just started hitting home when I relistened to it for this list. Ride by Twenty One Pilots. My favorite hit song of 2016!

Thanks for reading. I'll see you next time!